


Lord Fred and the Kingdom of Death: The Fan Continuation

by ruff_ethereal



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Dark Comedy, Explicit Language, F/F, Fan Continuation, Gen, Mild Gore, Mild Language, Orcs Being Orcs, Pathfinder - Freeform, Post-Canon, Role-Playing Game, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-10 17:53:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5595397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruff_ethereal/pseuds/ruff_ethereal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The following story is an unofficial, unauthorized fan continuation of Lord Fred and the Kingdom of Death by Elacular, continuing the adventures of the Big Hero 6 gang roleplaying a group of adventurers trying to stop the Kingdom of Frederickside from being annihilated by a dragon they accidentally pissed off.</p><p>Starts directly from Chapter 12 of the original.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 13: Negotiating with Beings that can Kill and Eat You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elacular](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elacular/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Lord Fred and the Kingdom of Death](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2679995) by [Elacular](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elacular/pseuds/Elacular). 



[ _“There's some rich dragon_ _born_ _assholes coming to wipe_ _the city of Heath Cliff_ _off the map, we need to ride your gold plate_ _d butt_ _in to battle to_ _kill them_ _.” Taka said_ _calmly_ _._

_The rest of the party sans Max blinked._

“ _No.” Kaiju replied just as coolly._

_Taka punched him in one of the nostrils._

_Kaiju flinched, not hurt but certainly annoyed. The dragon's eyes narrowed into what looked very much like a glare._

“ _What?” Taka said to his stunned companions. “I said I was going to do it.”_

_Kaiju growled. “And just for that, I'm_ vaporizing _the whole lot of you instead of kicking you out of my cave...”_

“ _Not if I cleave your head off your shoulders first,” Taka huffed as he pulled out his axe._

“ _DUDE!” Ginger screeched. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”]_

_Hiro shot Wasabi a mock confused look. “Uh, being in character?” He said, smiling._

“And getting us all killed while you're at it, too!” Wasabi huffed.

“Hiro's right, though! Orcs aren't much for diplomacy.” Fred countered. “Besides, this _totally_ makes the story so much more interesting! You guys really should try intentionally screwing things up or making things worse for your party here and then—so long as it's in-character, of course. Trust me, I've had some great moments and some pretty exciting twists doing those!”

“Given the tendency of Hiro and GoGo's characters' levels of cortisol and testosterone to dramatically raise at most every situation or stimuli they perceive to be even slightly negative, I do not think that is necessary.” Baymax chimed in.

“There wouldn't happen to be any anger management classes for adventurers, would there?” Wasabi asked.

Hiro ignored him, while GoGo scowled and stewed in her seat.

“Cheer up, GoGo,” Honey Lemon said. “I like you this way—things are never boring that way!”

_[Kaiju let out a deep sigh, one that felt like a wind carried off from a raging inferno. “Shall I wait for you children to stop arguing amongst yourselves, or shall I just save us all the trouble and incinerate you now?”_

“ _Wait, what?!” Ginger cried again._

“ _If you_ somehow _manage to survive_ _this_ _, I'd advise you_ _to_ _think of what you're going to say before you wake up the giant beast that is both older than any of you combined, and can destroy you_ _all_ _with a single attack.” Kaiju huffed. “You have 40 seconds left, by the way.”_ ]

Wasabi glared at Fred. He just smiled. “Making things more interesting!”

[ _Ginger_ _quietly_ _sighed. “Please, Kaiju, help us. We”--he quickly glared at Leiko--”got ourselves into a huge mess, and need your help_ _getting_ _out of it.”_

“ _And why should_ I _care about_ your _follies?”_

_Leiko scowled. “Listen, you scaley douchebag, if you don't get up off your gold plated butt and help us, Regent, his mutant asshole spawn, and their cronies are going to raze Heath Cliff then the whole damn kingdom to the ground!”_

“ _And…?” Kaiju asked flatly._

“ _Aren't you worried about all those people that are going to get killed?” Aiko asked, horrified._

_Kaiju rolled his eyes. “Please, I've been alive since before the first settlers even came to establish this 'kingdom' when it was just a conveniently unclaimed patch of wilderness.”_

“ _But haven't they given you all this stuff to protect them?!” Ginger spluttered._

“ _Yes,” Kaiju replied. “In exchange for these treasures, King Stanley can claim that he has a dragon protecting his kingdom and scare off any potential raiders or neighbouring kingdoms wandering to plunder him before they even send word to gather up their forces. And if any of them are fool enough to try anyway, they send a signal, I fly overhead, they run away scared, I return to my cave and wait for my payment to come without even having to breath a single puff of flame.”_

_He grinned toothily. “It's a_ fantastic  _system, I assure you.”_

_The heroes stared at him in a mix of shock, horror, disgust, or in Taka's case, admiration._ ]

“PLOT TWIST!” Fred cried, wiggling his fingers in the air.

[ _“Man, if only you actually killed the guys that c_ _ame_ _, I'd call you a genius.” Taka said as he nodded his head._

_Kaiju hummed. “Thank you. Just for that, I'm making your death in particular quick. The rest however will still suffer._

“ _You've all got, oh, less than 10 seconds left to convince me, by the way.”_

“ _Don't you care about anyone other than yourself_ at all _?!” Aiko cried._

“ _If they can provide me something in return, I do.”_

“ _It'll be really inconvenient to have to find a new kingdom to protect!” Ginger continued._

“ _You'd be surprised.”_

“ _Listen, asshole, you're going to help us or I'm going to turn you into my new set of platemail!” Leiko yelled as she drew her weapons._

_Kaiju chuckled. “I'd love to see you try.”_

“ _And I'd love to show you!” Taka said as he drew his own axe at the ready._

_All the while, Maxmillion watched silently._

“ _Time's up!” Kaiju chirped happily. “Time for all of you to die. Please, just stand still: it'll be easier for all of us.”_

_The temperature in the cave rose dramatically as the dragon opened his maw and took in a deep breath. The heroes shielded their eyes as a golden ball of flame started to gather from deep within his belly, growing larger and larger, huge tongues of fire lashing out as Kaiju began to exhale..._

“ _What if we immortalize you in art and writing, Kaiju?” Maxmillion asked._

_The glow of the fireball began to dim, until Kaiju closed his mouth. Thick gouts of smoke poured out of his nostrils, before the dragon snorted them out and sent an ember-laden blast of smoke over the heroes. Everyone except Maxmillon and Aiko got a face full of it, their eyes suddenly so dry and the air so hot that their tears seemed to evaporate before even a drop could well up._

“ _OW! SON OF A FU—ARGH!”_

“ _OH! NO FAIR! This isn't the_ fun _kind of pain!”_

“ _MY EYES!”_

“ _What happened to being immune from all the fireballs, huh?”_

“ _THIS WASN'T A REGULATION-SIZED FIREBALL!”_

_Aiko quietly pulled out a bottle of fluid and started to pour it over her suffering allies' eyes. Maxmillion wisely kept his closed as he spoke to Kaiju._

“ _You've piqued my interest, portly one: tell me more.” The dragon hummed._

“ _It would seem that you are a great fan of literary and artistic works chronicling the adventures of others and the legends of the land, Kaiju.” Maxmillion replied._

_Kaiju rumbled with amusement. “And it would seem your eyes are working perfectly. What of it?”_

“ _Our arrival to protect Frederickside from annihilation was foretold in prophecy—a prophecy that has become widely known and remembered by its people.”_

“ _And what does the word of old fools who think they can predict the future mean to me?” Kaiju asked, annoyed._

“ _Pardon, Kaiju, but you did not let me finish.”_

 _The dragon huffed, sending another, weaker blast of smoke. This time, the others were smart enough to shield themselves, Leiko putting herself between Aiko and the beast._ ]

“Oddly specific detail there, GoGo.” Hiro hummed.

GoGo flipped him the finger.

[ _Kaiju sighed and sat down on his haunches, bringing up a fine cloud of ash around his scaley_ _derriere._ _“Fine, but the_ _next_ _words coming out of your mouth better be worth all this time and attention I'm devoting to you; I could be using that to catch up on the slumber your green companion has interrupted, you know.”_

_Leiko groaned. “Oh, my god, can we_ please  _just kill him now…?”_

_Maxmillion and Kaiju ignored her. “The destruction of Frederickside will certainly go down in the history of this land as a warning tale to the other kingdoms and all future settlements, but aside from historians and schoolchildren, the common man may not be so inclined to seek out this tale or remember it on their volition._

“ _However, the_ salvation _of Frederickside, especially by a most uncommon, unusual, and fantastic manner, will certainly become a legend that will be retold in many different capacities for many, many, many years to come, if not for all of eternity.”_

_Kaiju hummed, intrigued. “Keep going, keep going...”_

_Leiko scowled. “We're not seriously doing this, are we?”_

“ _We are—it's getting us out of trouble, unlike throwing bar stools at random strangers who may or may not be the sons of powerful bureaucrats.” Ginger huffed._

_Leiko glared at him, Aiko put a hand on her shoulder and calmed her down._

“ _It would do you all well to shut up unless it involves more of this plan,” Kaiju said as he made himself comfortable. “Really, your portly friend here appears to be the only one with any sense in him.”_

“ _Oh fuck you...” Leiko grumbled._ ]

“Kaiju didn't hear that, too interested in hearing more of Maxmillion's plan...” Fred narrated with a smile.


	2. Part 14: Currying the Dragon's Favour

[ _“If you graciously provide us your assistance and help save Frederickside, Kaiju, we will make sure that the people will be very grateful to you, and extremely eager to show it in any way you would prefer.” Maxmillion said._

“ _Can we_ please _not suck up to this douchebag's gold plated ass?” Leiko complained._

“ _Sweetie...” Aiko said before she calmly led Leiko away to a corner, and_ _had_ _her to sit down quietly there._ ]

“Hah!” Hiro laughed. “GoGo got a time out!”

GoGo would have punched him, if she wasn't in time out in the corner.

[“Any _way?” Kaiju asked._

“ _Yeah, we can totally make a giant statue celebrating you: Kaiju, Saviour of the City of Heath Cliff and the Kingdom of Frederickside! We'll make it like, yay big, and put it smack dab in the city center.” Taka said, spreading his massive arms as far as he could go to describe just how large said statue would be._

_Kaiju's eyes widened at the mere idea that it could be of that size._

“ _Plus, we'll give you your own personal copy to do… whatever it is you do with your statues. Seriously,_ _we_ _don't judge.”_ ]

Hiro kept his face completely straight, Fred snickered, Wasabi looked disturbed, Baymax was neutral as always, Honey Lemon looked over at Hiro with a look of serious concern, while GoGo quietly gave him a thumbs up.

[ _Kaiju grinned at that. “I like it. No, scratch that, I_ love _it.”_

“ _I keep very good, accurate, and organized journals!” Ginger offered. “I'll make sure that when they tell the story, they don't forget a single detail or fudge up the accuracy of what actually happened! Heck, they could even just reprint my journals and spread it around as a book—that way no one can contest how the story goes.”_

“ _We could do art for you, too!” Aiko continued. “Commission a huge, stained glass window of you swooping in to save Frederickside in their darkest hour, put it right in the throne room, ooh, ooh, or maybe a giant mural in one of the cathedrals, detailing how you came down from on high like a gift from the heavens and saved the kingdom from destruction!”_

“ _Why not do both?” Taka offered. “We could make a book but instead of boring old words, we could put all kinds of interesting pictures in it; that way, people could just be_ looking _at all the blood gore and death than trying to imagine it in their heads—that's always more fun”_

_Ginger visibly took offense to that, but said nothing._

“ _I can definitely develop some special ink for that, make the colours more vibrant and beautiful than anything you can find on the market today, allow the artists to put in everything in so much detail you could swear it's almost like a tiny version of the real events right there on the page!” Aiko continued, getting more and more excited at the prospect._

“ _Yeah, and we'll give it a badass title too, like 'Lord Kaiju and the Kingdom of Death.'” Leiko grumbled sarcastically from the corner._

“ _Mmm, 'Lord Kaiju' certainly has a much more elegant, powerful ring to it than just 'Kaiju,'” Lord Kaiju hummed._

_Leiko was about to tell him that she was being sarcastic, before she caught herself, sighed, and turned back to stare at the wall._

“ _Does this mean you will aid us, Lord Kaiju?” Maxmillion asked._

“ _In a rather pleasant surprise: yes, yes it does!” Lord Kaiju said as he got back up off his haunches. The other heroes stepped away as he began to stretch, opening up his wings and flexing his legs to get the kinks out of them. “Consider yourselves very lucky that I, Lord Kaiju, have blessed you with my favour and my assistance!”_

_Maxmillion smiled. “All hail Lord Kaiju, who is most generous.” He said._

“ _All hail Lord Kaiju, whose gold plated butt we're going to ride into battle before we wreck Regent, his son, and all of his cronies!” Taka continued, raising his axe into the air._

“ _All hail Lord Kaiju, who, uh, has incredibly good taste in arts and literature?” Ginger said._

“ _All hail Lord Kaiju, who has the shiniest, most brilliant golden scales I've ever seen on anyone or anything in my entire life!” Aiko declared happily._

_Leiko opened her mouth to protest, before she sighed heavily. “All hail Lord Kaiju, who is awesome, badass, and really handsome, someone just please shoot me now...”_

_Lord Kaiju beamed, puffing out his massive body for all to see. “Now_ that's  _what I like to hear. I'm happy I chose_ not  _to vaporize you lot. Now come along now, we've got a kingdom to save,” he said before he trotted out to the entrance._

“ _Awright! Woo!” Taka raised his axe in the air as he trotted off. “Man, I am so ready to cleave that Regent's other wing off. You think he got it reattached since then? That'd suck—but I guess that just means I can chop it off again...”_

“ _Have you just been thinking of how you're going to maim and dismember Regent for all this time?” Ginger asked._

_Taka shot him a quizzical look. “Uh, yeah, hasn't everyone?”_

_Ginger failed to produce a response to that, and decided to follow after the two._

“ _It would be unwise to remain in this cave for much longer,” Maxmillion said. “My robes are adequate as a temporary measure, but are not made for extended ventures in hazardous environments such as this.”_

“ _Yeah, yeah, we're going.” Leiko said as she got up from her corner and sulked after the others._

“ _Cheer up, Leiko,” Aiko said as she fell in step with her. “You'll finally get to beat up Regent's son again, won't you?”_

“ _Yeah, but I'll have to suck up to Lord Kaiju's gold platted butt to do it.”_

 _Aiko frowned. “Well, if it makes you feel better...”_ ]

Honey Lemon leaned in and whispered in GoGo's ear.

GoGo's eyebrows rose as her cheeks visibly turned red.

“I am detecting elevated heart rates and vastly increased levels of e _pinephrine,_ _d_ _opamine and_ _s_ _erotonin_ in both Honey Lemon and GoGo, but especially the latter.” Baymax said calmly.

Hiro chuckled. “Oooh la la~!”

Honey Lemon calmly pulled away as if nothing had happened. “That was IC'ily whispered between just the two of us! No one else could have heard it because they were too far away and Aiko was whispering.”

“Unchallenged!” Fred said happily. “Baymax?”

“Maxmillion escorts Aiko and Leiko out of the cave, to where the others are waiting.” He replied.

[ _Lord Kaiju and the rest of the party find themselves waiting just outside the mouth of San Fransokyo tower, the ledge long and wide enough for the dragon to take off with ease into the skies. The view up here is different than when they were ascending the mountain; now, all they can see for miles is smog_ _and_ _thick smoke, embers constantly burning and floating about in the haze._

“ _Makes you wish you had some way of capturing the killer view, huh.” Leiko said sarcastically._

“ _You can enjoy it later,_ after _we have saved the kingdom of Frederickside and the whole continent knows of my part in this deed.” Lord Kaiju said as he spread his wings and crouched low. “Now come along, on my back! And please, no funny business; I'm already giving you a great deal of leniency just letting you ride me like this.”_

“ _Shotgun! Or back of his head, I guess!” Taka said as he climbed on. “Best place to chop off people's heads as we swoop down on them!”_

“ _Wait, wait, wait!” Ginger cried. “We're_ flying _back to Frederickside?!”_

“ _To use a phrase you beings seem to be so fond of: uh, duh?” Lord Kaiju replied._

_Ginger stared out at the vast expanse of haze before him, with who knows how big of an ever increasing drop just below it. He paled. “Can't we just climb back down the mountain?”_

“ _What, and have to avoid or disarm every single one of my traps on the way there?” Lord Kaiju snapped. “I do believe we are trying to_ save _Frederickside and have it on recorded history that I swooped down from above from the heavens before delivering swift justice to the evildoers,_ not _marched up to the horizon and watched as the pillars of smoke rose up into the sky as the kingdom was in razed and conquered._

“ _Flying will be the swiftest and most effective means to arrive to this battle—and how many of_ any _your species regularly look_ up _unless something suddenly blocks the sunlight on a cloudless day?”_

_Ginger tried to argue with that, but found himself with no logical response._

“ _Besides, you_ seriously _can't expect a Lord to walk all that way on foot, do you?”_ ]


	3. Part 15: Return Flights and Layovers

[ _Taka sat just behind and under Lord Kaiju's majestic horns, holding onto one of them as he leaned out and practiced swinging his axe_ _, terrorizing imaginary opponents before he lopped off their imaginary heads at their imaginary necks, complete with imaginary volcanoes of blood._

 _The orc smiled to himself as he thought of the sheer number_ _of casualties he could inflict from this vantage_ _, chuckling as he pictured their widows and children arranging a mass funeral for the victims_ _and being forced to make it a memorial for all the difficulty of matching the parts to the rest of the bodies._ ]

“Don't you think you're taking this just a bit too far…?” Wasabi asked.

“No.” Hiro replied.

“No problems here!” Fred said.

[ _“Be very cautious with that axe, barbaric one,”_ _Lord Kaiju rumbled._ _“I will_ not _tolerate you accidentally chopping off the ten_ _drils_ _of my head. They've been growing for longer than you have been alive, and I rather enjoy the length they have achieved.”_

“ _Yeah, yeah, I'll be careful,” Taka replied as he switched sides, in case the opponent wisened up and did the same._

_Ginger examined Lord Kaiju's back and the massive wings stretching down the entire length of his body, all the way to his tail tip. “No saddle, no restraining devices to secure us, and no assurance that his hide isn't infested with heat-resistant parasites and microbes…” He sighed. “Fantastic.”_

“ _Normally, I would be happy to leave you here until I triumphantly return, but I need you to record the events of this day. Climb up on my back, wizard, before you force me to carry you off in my jaws.”_

“ _That will certainly put him at an excellent vantage point to enjoy a most unique view,” Maxmillion mused._

_Ginger paled and shook for a moment, before he regained his composure._

“ _Worry not, Ginger,” Maxmillion continued. “I will sit behind you, as with the Bracers of Flight, I am best equipped to catch you or anyone else who loses their grip on Lord Kaiju's back and ends up disembarking prematurely.”_

“ _Yeah, I hear falling several hundred feet straight down and hitting the ground at terminal velocity is a_ pretty _bad way to go,” Leiko said as she walked past him and climbed onto. “Try to land in someone's bed, into schoolhouse while class is in session, or right on top of a priest during mass, would you?”_

_Aiko chuckled as Leiko helped her on. “They'll never forget that, that's for certain!”_

_Ginger scowled. “You guys suck.”_

“ _Daylight is burning, let's not have the Kingdom of Fredrickside suffer the same fate. Make haste, now.”_

_Ginger sighed, and climbed onto Lord Kaiju's back, securing himself as firmly as he could. “If I die, I'm haunting every single one of you, and inventing a safe, sane way of aerial reptilian transportation from beyond the grave!”_

“ _I'll assume that means we can finally take flight?” Lord Kaiju asked._

“ _I'm itching to finally get to chop some living foes! Let's ride your gold plated butt into battle!” Taka cried as he triumphantly raised his axe into the air._

_Lord Kaiju grinned. “I'll take that as a yes.”_

_With a brief run, the dragon launched off the edge of the cliff, spread his massive wings and took flight, soaring high above the clouds of ash and soot and towards the_ _city of Heath Cliff_ _in the distance._ ]

Wasabi pulled out his phone.

“Got a text, 'Sabi?” Fred asked.

“No, just putting on some nice, calming music while you describe the flight and everything we're going to see there,” he replied bitterly. “Just… tell me when the ride's over and we're back safely on the ground.”

Fred nodded. “Sure thing, dude.”

Wasabi plugged in his earphones and tried to relax as much as he could before Fred or anyone else severely elevated his stress levels once more.

[ _The scenery changes dramatically a minute into the flight, the fiery and desolate haze quickly turning_ _into a clear night sky_ _._ _Below them,_ _the great river that flowed fast and strong beside the city of Heath Cliff and its neighbouring_ _towns_ _came into view, the stars reflecting beautifully of its surface, illuminating and outlining the great number of water mills, farms, and trading posts that was the source of Fredrickside's wealth and prosperity._

_Tonight, however, the mills were still, the fields went half-harvested and abandoned, and the windows and doors of the trading posts were shut. The lamps by the sides of the road and on the fronts of houses and buildings were dimmed, and there was nary a traveler nor an animal to be seen outside. And as they neared the main road leading all the way up to Heath Cliff, the reason became clear._

_The cobblestone roads were blackened, cracked, and smoking, a procession of destruction that made itself most keenly known at every road that branched off to a nearby town, a farm, or an outpost. Though no buildings had been razed, nor bodies littering the road, the giant, unnatural storm cloud hovering the city of Heath Cliff in the distance wasn't a very reassuring sight._

“ _Damn,” Taka said. “Those guys move_ fast.”

“ _Does that asshole really have nothing better to do than take over-the-top revenge on people?” Leiko said with a scowl._

“ _To be fair, the Regent doesn't seem like he'd be a very popular leader...” Aiko muttered._

“ _All the better: everyone always loves the death of a tyrant.” Lord Kaiju said._

“ _Hope no one's going to mind my taking his head for my personal collection,” Taka said. “Always wanted a dragon head, but I suppose dragonborn is close enough.”_

“ _I would advise that we focus on how we are to fight the Regent and his forces, before we discuss how we will split the spoils of battle.” Maxmillion said calmly. “Engaging an enemy without a plan greatly increases the chances of failure, serious injury, and even death.”_

“ _Can't I just jump off Lord Kaiju's back here and start chopping heads soon as I hit the ground?” Taka asked._

“ _Not unless you want to be the Regent's new trophy.” Leiko replied flatly. “Hey, magic man, stop pretending you're wherever the hell your happy place and get back to us already, we need your expertise.”_

_Ginger didn't open his eyes as he kept on clinging to Lord Kaiju's back with all four of his limbs. “Are we back on the ground yet?”_

“ _No,” Maxmillion replied, “but we will be as soon as we discuss a proper plan of attack to maximize our chances of victory and avoid unnecessary injury and/or death.”_

_Ginger sighed and kept his eyes shut. “Great. Any idea what we're up against?”_

“ _Just guessing here, but with what we've learned of the Regent, I'm pretty sure he's brought his storm magic, his little shit of a son, and a huge army with him to overcompensate.” Leiko replied._

“ _So basically a giant force that we won't be able to take head-on and have a hope in hell of winning.”_

“ _Now that's just loser talk,” Taka said with a disapproving cluck. “Drop in anyway and start tearing it up, and if you make it out okay? Good! And if you don't?_ Also _good—at least you didn't back off a good fight!_

“ _That's the orcish way, mhmm.”_

“ _Well it's not the human's, the elf's, the dwarf's, nor the dragon's way, certainly,” Lord Kaiju huffed. “I agreed to help you in this quest, heroes, but I do_ not _intend to go down in history as heroically sacrificing myself—_ then _how will I be able to make sure they've got the details down right and capture my visage in all its glory?”_

_Leiko sighed. “You know, I kept myself from saying it earlier, but for a 'good' dragon, you're a really arrogant, vein, and over-entitled asshole with a_ real  _shitty attitude, you know that?”_

“ _I'm helping you out with your blunder out of the goodness of my heart, you know that?” Lord Kaiju calmly snapped back._

“ _Leiko, please,” Aiko said as she put a hand on the dwarf's shoulder. “In-fighting won't help us.”_

“ _What will is a plan.” Ginger added._

“ _Yeah, but you know what? I'm sick of kissing 'Lord' Kaiju's gold plated butt over here! Are_ all _you dragons and dragonborn just vain little shits who just happen to be overgrown firebreathing lizards with wings? I bet if we hadn't gotten down on our knees and begged to lick your filthy fucking claws you wouldn't have even agreed to listen to us!”_

_A light bulb went off in Aiko's head. “Now there's an idea.”_

_Leiko looked at her in disgust. “You're not suggesting we get down on our knees and beg the Regent to spare us, are you?”_

“ _Spare us? Oh no, but I do have a plan… Lord Kaiju, can you land in that forest over there? We're going to need a couple of hours to rest and prepare if this is going to work.”_

“ _Fine, but that_ _city better still be there and not on fire_ _come morning,” Lord Kaiju said as he took a gentle curve, down into a clear field deep within the forests surrounding the kingdom._ ]

Fred smiled as he put down his 'Lord Kaiju' microphone. “Alright, Honey, let's hear what this plan of yours is...”


	4. Part 16: Campfire Revelations

[ _A small campfire was quickly built before t_ _he five heroes and the one dragon_ _gathered around it, a_ _ll ears on Aiko as she laid out her plan._ _Though they were tired from the trek to and up San Fransokyo Tower, hungry from the lack of any real meals since then, and in Ginger's case, extremely adamant that he get thirty minutes to an hour to write in his journals and prepare his spells, sleep, dinner, and rituals would have to wait till later._

“ _Regent seems like he's awfully keen on making an example of the people who annoy him, right?” Aiko began._

_Beside her, Lord Kaiju laughed. “_ That  _is an understatement. From what the townsfolk have shared with me, he is more fond of showing off his power and scaring people into submission than actually using it to slaughter them—not that it matters, seeing as few could take him on if he_ did  _use it.”_

“ _So it would seem he prefers to settle things non-violently, with as little effort, collateral damage, or casualties as possible.” Maxmillion said._

“ _Exactly.” Aiko replied. “I say we abuse that: we come riding into the city tomorrow morning, then, instead of a full-on attack, we challenge him to a duel, all five of us adventurers against him, with Lord Kaiju here to keep any minions he has in check”_

_Lord Kaiju hummed. “That would work. I'm more than capable of taking an army.”_

“ _But what if they have some kind of, I dunno, anti-dragon weapons or dragon slayers on them?” Leiko asked._

“ _They probably won't.” Ginger replied. “With how fast they moved out and on such short notice, they've probably only got the most basic weapons and gear on them, no siege weapons. Probably didn't even bring a week's supplies, I'm sure they think they could get Heath Cliff to surrender in a few days and be back in their barracks splitting the spoils the next day.”_

“ _And since Lord Kaiju here was always all bark but no bite with everyone that tried to attack before, he probably doesn't expect that he'd_ actually _come down there to fight.” Taka finished._

“ _Very true.” Lord Kaiju rumbled. “Ah, someone better have a very clear memory of his face when we arrive, I'm sure it will be_ priceless.”

“ _Then it's settled then: come morning, we fly in to Heath Cliff, challenge Regent to a duel, beat him and then save Frederickside.” Aiko said with a nod._

“ _Good plan. But a word of warning: he may be a proud man but he's not_ stupid _. Don't be surprised if he throws some of his strongest soldiers before him.”_

_Leiko smirked. “So what's a few goons before the big boss? Nothing we can't handle.”_

_Lord Kaiju fell deep in thought. “Hmm… now that I think about it, those 'goons' might be his entire army. What, pray tell, are you going to do then?”_

“ _I…” Aiko looked down. “Yeah, I don't know...”_

_Lord Kaiju hummed. “Well, at the very least, the history books will probably say I tried to help before the kingdom got destroyed.”_

_Aiko quietly focused on her hands._

_Leiko scowled. “What the fuck is your problem?!”_

“ _Leiko--” Aiko reached over to her._

_Leiko gently swatted her hand away as she glared at Lord Kaiju. “You're supposed to be one of the 'good' dragons, right? All peace, justice, and slaying evil? Then why are you such an asshole, huh?”_

“ _No one said that 'good' had to be nice, did they?” Lord Kaiju calmly snapped back._

_Leiko stood up and marched straight in front of the dragon's face.“No, they didn't, but you? You're playing up the 'jerk' part of 'jerk with a heart of gold' as much as you possibly can, and I'm starting to think that sure deep down, you're_ just  _a jerk!_

“ _What the fuck is your problem, 'Lord' Kaiju, oh great one who we've been sucking up to since we met you, who has been treating us all like crap since then, who I'm not even sure is actually going to save_ _Frederickside if he can't look cool while doing it?!”_

_Lord Kaiju rumbled, the darkness around them creeping back as an ominous glow built in the dragon's mouth._

“ _Oh, boy, she's done it now...” Ginger said as he grabbed his things and retreated to the side._

“ _It would be wise to move to a different position that is not in or too close to the line of Lord Kaiju's fire breath, and preferably behind a large object that is not flammable.” Maxmillion said. “Failure to do so will be extremely detrimental to your physical health, and I am not sure I can treat burns that severe.”_

“ _You'll also get a better view of the show!” Taka yelled as he settled behind a rock, before peering out at it._

“ _Leiko, Lord Kaiju--” Aiko started._

“ _Get away, honey.” Leiko growled._

_Aiko opened her mouth to speak, before she reluctantly retreated to a safe spot with the others._

_The fireball inside Lord Kaiju only kept on getting bigger and bigger._

_Leiko gritted her teeth, raised her shield, and braced herself for combat._

_Then, the dragon shut his mouth, the flames inside of him extinguished, smoke like a doused campfire pouring out of his nostrils._

“ _Do you really want to know, dwarf?” Lord Kaiju asked flatly._

“ _I like knowing if an asshole's got a reason for hating me, so I know just how much I'm supposed to hate them back, yeah.” Leiko snapped._

_Lord Kaiju closed his eyes, and let out a mighty sigh. This time, Leiko was prepared as she shut her eyes and blocked the blast with her shield._

“ _Fine, then: I will tell you._

“ _I have lived a long life—longer than any of you. Though by my race's standards, I am young, by human measurements, I will have grown to outlive at least two generations, from their births to their inevitable deaths._

“ _I used to help heroes and adventurers like you—bright eyed and young newbies with their boundless passion and enthusiasm, or weathered and wise veterans, still holding onto their ideals after all they've been through. I considered myself one, too, going from kingdom to kingdom, helping everyone from the highest of governors and kings to the lowliest, poorest farmer, all for the sake of doing what is right._

“ _It was a glorious time! I_ dearly _wish it hadn't ended._

“ _The change was slow, but it never stopped; the old heroes grew old and died, retired to lives of peace or to raise families of their own, or chose to mentor the new generation. And though there were many of those that had been schooled in the ways of justice, of fairness, of doing what is right for the sake of it, there were many more that were only in it for the rush of danger, the allure of fame, or the promise of generous compensation._

“ _I watched as the whole world became lousy with these so called 'heroes,' ones who would leave entire kingdoms to be ravaged and burned, their people enslaved, murdered, and raped, simply because they couldn't afford to pay for their assistance._

“ _ And I watched as the real heroes grew to become so jaded and embittered they withdrew from the whole business, or they became the very villains they had once sworn to fight. _

“ _You're all lucky, you know that? Most of you won't live to see the next century, and even the elf and the dwarf can always fortify themselves deep within the walls of their peoples' cities, where everyone stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that anything has ever changed._

“ _I, however, can not simply wait a few decades, grow old and die, finally released from this mockery of what I once held dear.” Lord Kaiju sighed heavily, his eyes turning down to the ground. “I can only hope to surround myself with tales that once upon a time, it wasn't always like this.”_

_The clearing fell silent, but for the crackling of the camp fire and the sound of Lord Kaiju's breathing._

“ _Wow,” Ginger said. “That is actually… really, really depressing.”_

“ _So what if things have changed?” Taka said. “Live in the now; never get attached to anyone for too long, finish your battles and look forward to the next one, meet new people, see new lands, have new experiences, and then kill everything and everyone there that you want to before you move on to the next place._

“ _Poetic!” Ginger said. “But also horrifying and barbaric.”_

_Taka shrugged. “It's the orc way—the real way to live.”_

_Lord Kaiju sighed. “I knew you wouldn't get it. If any of you have any thing to say, I'd suggest you leave it until tomorrow; if I'm not mistaken, we stopped here to rest, not spend the whole night swapping stories.”_

“ _It would indeed be best. By my calculations, we will have the full recommended eight hours of rest and be in Heath Cliff by sunrise if we retire now.”_

“ _Fine by me!” Taka said as he returned to the campfire and laid down to rest, his axe still in hand. “Wake me up when it's time to ride Lord Kaiju's gold plated butt into battle.”_

_The others saw no reason to argue and settled down on their own spots, except for Lord Kaiju who was taking night watch, and Leiko, still standing before him but with her weapons sheathed._

_Lord Kaiju sighed. “Didn't you hear me, dwarf? Or does your kind see sleep deprivation as a good thing to have before rushing headlong into battle?”_

“ _I just need to tell you one more thing.”_

_Lord Kaiju rolled his eyes. “Please don't let it be a speech about how the heroes are 'making a comeback,' starting with your party—I've heard that_ far  _too many times for even a single human lifetime.”_

“ _Nah, I was going to say that after all that talk of being an adventurer back then, you_ better _be able to keep Regent's forces at bay while we kill him; I'd hate to have to pick up your slack because you've gone rusty.”_

_Lord Kaiju blinked, before he smiled. “You're confident. I like that—it means we may have a sliver of a chance yet.”_

_Leiko rolled her eyes and went off to sleep._ ]

“You forget to mention 'beside Aiko.'” Hiro said with a smile.

GoGo said nothing.

“All in favour of a timeskip for morning?” Fred asked.

Everyone said “Aye.”


	5. Part 17: Dawn of Battle

[ _It was a grim morning for the city of Heath Cliff, the sun shining bright and proud in the sky while down below, the Regent's army of mercenaries and guards kept the people jailed inside their own homes, patrolling the streets looking for any signs of heroes, all while the_ _city_ _guard was forced to watch in their barracks, or left injured,_ _dying, or_ _dead on the cobblestone streets._

_Inside the castle, Regent, and his personal bodyguards strolled around King Stanley's throne room with impunity, stealing precious jewelry, covetously eying the sculptures and larger antiques, and even going so far as to draw ridiculous additions to his highness' portrait._

_On his throne, with two bodyguards keeping him held down at spear-point, King Stanley could only watch._

“ _This plan of yours to keep the prophecy from coming true worked out brilliantly, don't you think?” Regent said. “Keep the 'heroes' locked under house arrest, as if it weren't possible for them to earn the ire of some other family of dragonborn elsewhere then seek refuge in your kingdom… it was quite the clever plan, but such a shame it didn't work.”_

“ _The heroes are coming to defeat you anyway, Regent.” King Stanley calmly shot back._

_Regent faced him and smiled. “Oh? Are they in hiding amongst your people, trapped like animals in a cage? Were they the pathetic guards that now lay dying in your streets? Or perhaps they got lost on the way back here? Or maybe, just maybe, they were smart enough to run?”_

_King Stanley glared at him._

_Regent tilted his head back and laughed. “You talk with such confidence for your 'saviours' and yet you've already signed your surrender, giving me your crown in exchange for the lives of your people… really, your highness, this inconsistency in action and word is unbecoming of a ruler._

“ _What will your 'heroes' say when they find out?”_

_They stopped as the whole city shook from a mighty roar, so powerful in reverberated in everyone's chests and brought the weaker among them to their knees._

_King Stanley smiled as one of Regent's lookouts came running in, pale as a ghost. “I don't know, why don't you ask them?” He asked._

_Regent scowled at him, before he stormed out to the nearby balcony. A massive shadow passed over him and blocked out the light. He looked up and saw Lord Kaiju glowing like his own sun, his golden scales gleaming beautifully as he soared high up above._

_And on his back, a familiar group of troublemakers_ _rode_ _. Some of them even had the gall to wave at him, though the orc grabbing onto Lord Kaiju's horn with one hand while he waved his axe around with the other was making the nature of his greeting very clear, and through the grace of his superhuman eyesight, he saw the dwarf making a rude hand gesture at him._ ]

Hiro and GoGo bumped fists.

[ _“FOOLS!” Regent cried, his voice booming up into the heavens and across the city. “You are already too late! Your highness King Stanley has already forfeited his crown to me!”_

“ _Well, that just means we'll have to get it back from you, won't it?” Lord Kaiju shot back._

_Regent's features started to morph and twist, leathery wings spreading out from his back and through the slits in his robes—one of them with a massive, ugly scar running down the length of it._

_Taka smiled to himself at the memory of why it was like that._

_The air around_ _the sorcerer_ _started to crackle with electricity as his teeth turned to sharp fangs. “I am not afraid of you, Kaiju! Do you think that I would be afraid of a mere_ fledgling?  _That I do not know of how you merely scare off your foes, play on the fears of_ _common men_ _?”_

_Up on Lord Kaiju's back, Leiko rolled her eyes. She yelled something to the dragon, who happily relayed it to Regent. “The dwarf says 'That's because there hasn't been a big enough dumbass to go through with it anyway!' Until you, I suppose.”_

_Regent roared with anger, a bolt of lightning streaking out of his mouth and towards the heroes, but Lord Kaiju casually dodged it. “You will_ pay  _for such insolence! My army will shoot you down out of the sky and slaughter the survivors!”_

_Lord Kaiju chuckled. “Hiding behind your men, Regent? The people painted a terrifying picture, but it seems you're just a coward too scared to face these heroes yourself.”_

“ _And you are a coward who throws insults where no one can retaliate in kind! Come down and face me, all of you! In the town square, you shall all meet your demise!”_

“ _Happily.” Lord Kaiju said as he began his descent._

 _Regent scowled at him_ _before_ _turned to one of his men. “As soon as they get within range, shoot them. I don't care what they land on, just kill the bastard and the fools riding him.”_ ]

“It would be wise to disembark quickly and spread out Regent's forces, then.” Baymax said.

“Woah, there, Baymax! You guys—well, Maxmillion and the others—don't know that Regent's totally going to shoot you guys; everything I've been telling you guys so far is just OOC, to set the mood and let you all know about the interesting stuff that's happening when you characters aren't around to witness it.”

“Then how do we find out that Regent's going to turn us into a target practice for his army?” Wasabi asked.

Fred smiled.

[ _All over the towers and the roofs of Heath Cliff, soldiers gather, armed with crossbows and manning the ballistas the_ _were_ _supposed to be guarding the city._

 _Lord Kaiju spot_ _ted_ _them, and frown_ _ed_ _. “_ _It would seem the Regent_ is _in fact a coward._ _A_ _lso, you all_ _might want to duck and hold on tight.” He sa_ _id_ _as the sky fill_ _ed_ _with arrows and spears,_ _all aimed at them_ _._ ]

“Everybody roll for initiative!” Fred cried.

“Alright!” Hiro threw his arms in the air before he grabbed the necessary dice. “Jumping off the dragon's back and bashing something with my axe time!”

Wasabi blinked. “Jumping off?!” He yelled. “Can't we just stay on the dragon until we can find somewhere to land _safely_?!”

“No can do, 'Sabi!” Fred replied. “It's just a question of how long you want to stay on Lord Kaiju's back, because there's only so many acrobatic moves he can do with passengers before he's shot down! Don't worry though, as a wizard, you can use your spells for a few rounds and blast some enemies from above before you have to get off.”

“Can I stay and rain potions down on them?” Honey Lemon asked.

Fred gave her a thumbs up. “Go for it!”

Honey Lemon grinned as she consulted her inventory.

“What have we got to land on?” GoGo asked.

“Conveniently placed barrels of hay, cloth and thatched roofs on stalls or homes, angled roofs where you can slide down to the street—take your pick! You're flying low enough that you can land without injury, but it might take you a while to get back up if you fumble!”

GoGo nodded as she picked up her die.

“And there really is no way to safely land in Fredrickside? No conveniently street that's wide as a dragon? No courtyard where you can drop me off without any risk of danger?”

“With all the guys shooting at us right now? No.”

Wasabi sighed. “You did this on _purpose_ , didn't you?”

Fred smiled and raised his hands. “Don't blame me! Baymax suggested I put it in.”

“Exposure to the source of a patient's feared object or context without any danger is an extremely effective way to rid them of their phobias, and improve their emotional health.” Baymax said cheerfully.

Wasabi looked at him blankly before he reached for the cursed die.

Fred reached over and stopped his hand. “Wasabi. Please. I'm begging you. Don't.”

Wasabi calmly pulled his hand off. “Superstition, that's all it is...” He said as he picked up the die anyway.

Fred sighed. “Baymax, could you catch him if he falls?”

“I was already planning to.”

[ _Amidst a rain of arrows and spears, Lord Kaiju swept just above the roofs of Heath Cliff's buildings, heroes_ _jumping off from his back_ _and potions raining_ _down below him_ _._

 _And_ _with a triumphant roar that rattled every building and the bones of every person in the city,_ _the battle for the Kingdom of Fredrickside began._ ]


	6. Part 18: Make It Rain, Make It Rain, Make It Rain On Your Foes

[ _Dozens of mercenaries and soldiers all across_ _the city_ _knelt down to the ground, reloading and rewinding their crossbows if they weren't nocking new arrows into their bows, or turning the gears on the ballistas to follow Lord Kaiju's_ _flight_ _._

_In the town square, a small squad of them watched as the dragon swooped just above them._

“ _Ready!” The leader cried. “Aim! Fi--!”_

Crack.

_The shooters winced, trained fingers stopping just short of their triggers, and turned to look at their commander. They all yelled and screamed as they realized he had met an untimely and gruesome fate by a giant, orc-sized axe that had suddenly fallen from the heavens to nail him into the ground—or to be more specific, two halves of him._

“ _Up above!” One of them cried before they started running for their lives. The others either bolted along with their comrade or fired at Taka Chiho as he swooped down on them, his arms outstretched like a bird of prey, maniacally laughing all the while._

_One unlucky bastard ran just a little too late and a little too slowly as Taka tackled him into the ground, still roaring as he surfed him a good distance until finally, they both came to a stop. The orc jumped off while the soldier remained motionless on the ground._

“ _Nailed it!” He said to himself_ _as he went to retrieve his axe_ _._ ]

“How is that even physically possible?” Wasabi complained.

“Such is the power of the natural 20,” Fred said with a sage nod.

“And making the best character possible,” Hiro continued with pride.

[ _On a nearby building_ _, Leiko landed on_ _its_ _slate roof,_ _sliding down with ease, but launching off faster than she expected. The dwarf tucked and rolled_ _as she hit the ground and_ _g_ _ot_ _up with ease, but by that time, soldiers_ _were already pouring in from on all sides and_ _coming closer and closer…_

… _But not for long as potions rained down from above. They screamed, broke formation, and scattered as explosions rocked the square, others still keeling over as they were caught in a cloud of potent poison gas or choking smoke._

 _Ginger tried to cast a spell to further decimate their ranks, but Lord Kaiju was already pulling up and out of range_ _of the shooters_ _before he could finish._ ]

“Oh come on!” Wasabi cried. “That spell would have given us a huge tactical advantage!”

“Sorry, Wasabi, nothing I can do; there's only one power greater than that of the GM, and that's the Die Gods.”

“So maybe try _not_ using the cursed one next time?” GoGo offered.

Wasabi grumbled under his breath.

[ _Maxmillion held on, looking out for any serious injuries on Lord Kaiju,_ _or his companions_ _losing their grip on the dragon's back. The shooters reloaded_ _and got ready for his second pass,_ _or joined the growing ranks of footsoldiers rushing into the town square to face the heroes._

“ _You ready for this?” Taka asked as he bared his axe to one line of soldiers._

“ _I'm offended you even have to ask.” Leiko replied as she readied her weapons to the other._

 _Dozens of_ _mercenaries_ _charged in, swords and shields raised. All_ _over the city, barracks doors burst open and_ _the city guards_ _joined_ _the battle, taking_ _on_ _the Regent's forces_ _on the streets,_ _cutting_ _down the shooters lining the roofs_ _and towers_ _, stealing back their crossbows before they provided fire support for the heroes._ ]

“Great!” Wasabi said. “Now we don't have to get off.”

“Uh, you will, in a moment, actually.” Fred said.

[ _It seemed the tide was finally turning to Frederickside's favour, before the skies darkened, massive storm clouds_ _billowing out from the castle balcony and blocking out the sun_ _. With_ _an ominous_ _boom, a torrent of rain_ _and_ _lightning_ _pounded away at the city_ _,_ _flooding the streetsts,_ _setting fire to_ _the_ _roofs, striking down several_ _unlucky_ _guards where they stood_ _and leaving charred, blackened corpses in their wake_ _._

“ _FOOLS!” Regent boomed. “I had decided to show mercy on you, yet_ still _you stubbornly decide to fight!” He started to rise up from the castle's balcony, electricity quickly building up around him into a giant glowing, crackling ball of power. “Witness the full extent of my power—the_ last _thing you will ever see in all of your miserable lives!”_

_Lord Kaiju scowled. “If any of you were planning to get off, now would be the time—I'd hate to have you get killed while I go face off with Regent over there.” He said as he made a bee-line for the castle._

_Aiko nodded and pulled the drawstrings of her sack as tightly as she could. “Geronimo!” She yelled as she jumped off Lord Kaiju's back, aiming for a conveniently placed stack of hay. She lands safely, but her sack of combat potions ends up lost inside the wet fodder._

_Maxmillion turned to Ginger as Lord Kaiju began to angle up in his ascent. “Are you ready to jump, Ginger?”_

“ _N_ _o_ _!”_ ]

“ _Seriously_ _:_ is there really no way we can stay on?”

“'Fraid not: even _if_ Kaiju wasn't going to go head to head with Regent in an awesome battle of dragon vs dragonborn, the rain would have made his back extremely slippery and hard to grab onto without a saddle of any sort, plus all that lightning's got an extremely high chance of hitting you as he climbs up.”

“I'll roll for it.” Wasabi said.

“Roll for what?”

“Roll to hold onto Kaiju's back, that's what! I can still probably cast spells on his back even with the rain, and there might be one I can use to help him out with Regent!”

“Uh… okay, just grab a d20 and—seriously, Wasabi?”

“There's a good roll right along the corner, I can feel it.” Wasabi said as he started shaking the cursed die as if it were a matter of life and death.

Fred hung his head sadly. “I won't stop you then.”

Wasabi let the die loose. The whole table watched as it clattered and jumped, before it slowed and looked it was about to land with the 20 facing up.

Wasabi grinned.

Then, as if moved by some supernatural force, it kept on moving ever so slowly until it ultimately landed on the 1.

Wasabi's face shot up, searching his friend's faces for any sign of tampering, but all he could see were looks of confusion, a surly “Don't blame me” face from GoGo, and resignation from Fred.

“Much as Ginger tries to stay on Lord Kaiju's back, the rain has made his hide incredibly wet and slippery.” Fred narrated. “His grip slips and the wizard falls off the dragon's back, to the city of Heath Cliff below...”

[ _The wizard hadn't had time to begin screaming when Maxmillion launches off after him, running downwards as if he were making his way down a_ _steep_ _slope than empty air. He catches Ginger in his arms, saving him an unpleasant death or serious injury_ _below_ _._

“ _Flying makes me a better healthcare companion.” Maxmillion says happily as he keeps on running, further down to the street._

_Aiko joins them, covered in wet hay but her bag of combat potions back in her hands._ _In front of them, Regent's forces pour out of alleys, while they are being pursued by King Stanley's own guard and a handful of civilians who've joined the fight._

_Though the battle rages on all throughout the city, by far the largest brawl is in the town square, with Leiko and Taka at the very center of a growing pile of carnage and death._

_Aiko opens her bag and pulls out a potion. “What say we join them, boys?” She asks as she starts playfully tossing it into the air._

“ _With haste.” Max said as he started walking towards the scrap. “Even with their skill and the assistance of the guards, Leiko and Taka can not have taken on this many combatants without sustaining damage.”_

_Ginger grimaces. “At least there's no more flying this time...” He says before he rushes off to the fight, Aiko following after him._

“ _I'd advise you not to run!” Maxmillion yelled after them. “The rain has made the roads wet and flooded, and greatly increased the chances of slipping and injuring yourself, especially whilst moving quickly!”]_

“Seriously, Baymax?” Hiro asked.

“Suffering a serious, debilitating injury body because of an easily preventable accident does not seem like a very good thing for an adventurer's emotional health, not to mention their physical health.” Baymax replied.

“And I say you're all experienced enough adventures to know how not to slip while running on wet surfaces!” Fred said. “Now, before you take your combat rolls, just one more thing...”

[ _High up above in the balcony, Regent has gathered almost all of his power, the balcony around him falling apart and cracking from the stray bolts of lightning and electricity crackling all around him. He raises his hands, about to start slinging_ _massive,_ _destructive bolts all over the city, when Lord Kaiju crashes into him, destroying a good portion of the throne room as he_ _traps_ _the dragonborn wizard in his talons and flies away._

 _The sky_ _lights with_ _massive blast_ _s_ _of_ _lighting and_ _huge blasts of dragonfire_ _as the_ _two begin to duel…_ ]


	7. Part 19: Where Dragonborn Dare

[ _“Hah!” Taka yelled as he dealt the finishing blow to one more foe, lopping an unlucky mercenary's head right off his shoulders. “_ _Hey! Regent or whoever's_ _in charge of_ _these goons: send more of_ _'_ _em in! I haven't had this much fun in_ way _too long!” He yelled as he charged at a brand new enemy._

“ _Don't tempt them!” Leiko yelled as she bashed a different goon in the knees, bringing his head down to her height. “We've got enough problems already!” She said before she headbutted him, knocking him out nicely._

“ _You have all sustained a significant amount of damage during this fight, and it would be unwise to acquire more!” Maxmillion added. “I can only administer so many treatments in one day.”_

“ _Same here!” Ginger yelled before he blasted yet another soldier_ _with a fireball._ _“Seriously, how many of these guys_ are _there?”_ ]

“And I meant that in-character and out!” Wasabi continued. “It feels like we've just been fighting wave after wave of the same disposable goons for five minutes straight.”

“Hey, it's not like it's any different from when we do it in real life.” GoGo said.

“And here I thought the point of roleplaying was to escape real life...” Wasabi grumbled.

“Relax, guys, there's a reason behind all this! Regent's soldiers suddenly receive the order to retreat, and do it _fast_. Heath Cliff's guards and citizens chase off the straddlers, leaving the town square empty but for your allies and all the bodies. After looting most of them, you find a great number of valuables and battlefield provisions that replenish your strength.”

“Wait, 'looting most of them'?” Wasabi asked. “As in, touching and digging through the pockets of _very_ recent corpses, some of which are in _pieces_?”

“Uh, yeah?” Fred replied. “How did you expect you'd be getting most of your non-treasure chest loot?”

Wasabi stared at him for a few moments. “Soap and running water better exist in this universe!”

[ _“Ugh, this is so unsanitary...” Ginger said as he pulled out a healing potion from one of the corpses littering the ground._

“ _It's free stuff, why complain?” Taka asked as he calmly shook out all the valuables and items from another._

“ _And a much needed resupply!” Aiko continued as she stuffed several looted blast potions in her sack. “I was worried I was going to run out! That'd be_ very _bad.”_

“ _Though it would make your deaths far faster,” a familiar voice said. The heroes turned their heads and found Caiaphas Regent standing before them. He was dressed in chainmail this time, with a saber in his hand, and a dagger on his belt, but there was no mistaking that face and the air of arrogance he exuded._

“ _Now if you're done_ stealing _from my family, I would very much like to kill you all now,” he said as he raised his sword to them._

_Leiko grinned. “Hey, happy you showed up again, jackass.” She said as she strolled over to him. “There aren't any barstools around this time, but then again, I am trying to kill you this time so it won't matter.”_

_Caiaphas sniffed. “You say that as if you or your brutish companions are capable of it.”_

“ _You keep talking, but all I hear is bullshit.” Leiko said as she raised her weapons. “How about we finally finish what we started in that bar?”_

“ _Yeah, all this talking is boring!” Taka added._

_Caiaphas ignored him. “I warn you: I was thoroughly drunk then, hardly at my best, and not even_ close  _to the true power of a dragonborn. What can a puny dwarf like you expect to someone like myself?”_

“ _I can headbutt you in the nuts, for one.”_

“ _You'll_ what?”]

“… And that's a hit! Everybody roll for initiative while GoGo does her thing...”

[ _Caiaphas_ _let out a most undignified shriek as he staggered back, hands protectively held over his injuries. “You… you…!” He let out a groan of pain. “You… you will all pay_ dearly _for that, mark my words!” He said as he_ _readied_ _his sword_ _once more_ _._

_T_ _he heroes were unintimidated as they readied their weapons._

_Caiaphas_ _started scanning their ranks, until they fell on Aiko_ _._ _“How about we start with…_ _y_ _ou?”_ ]

Fred's die fell on the 20.

“Uh oh.” He said.

Honey Lemon frowned.

“What do you mean 'Uh oh.'?” GoGo asked, a scowl on her face.

“Just that it's a guaranteed hit on Aiko! Don't worry though, I still have to do one more roll to confirm something and…”

[ _Faster than any of them could react, Caiaphas dashed forward, closing the distance between him and Aiko in the blink of any ey_ _e. “_ _You know, now that I see you clearly, I'm happy that your dwarf friend threw that barstool at me,” he said as he calmly_ _drove his sword into her gut_ _. “Without the alcohol, you are_ far _less attractive.”_

 _Caiaphas_ _pulled out his blade, and_ _calmly_ _turn_ _ed around_ _to face the others. “Who's next?”_ ]

GoGo blinked. “What the hell just happened?!”

“Uh, Caiaphas got a critical hit in on Aiko, and it just so happens that the total damage is greater than all of her HP...”

Honey Lemon's face slowly fell.

“… She's disabled!” Fred finished quickly. “But _very_ slowly bleeding to death. Which means she can't move around. Or do anything. Until someone heals her back to 0 HP or higher.”

“So basically, she's dying.” GoGo said flatly.

Fred shrugged. “Sorry, guys, it's just a part of the game: characters die, it happens.”

“I can always just make a new character if Aiko does! It's fine.” Honey Lemon said, though from the tone of her voice, it clearly wasn't.

“Okay, Wasabi, your--”

“Hey, Fred.”

“Yeah, GoGo?”

“Can I go out of turn? Go berserk, counter-attack him, or something?”

“Uh, any traits you had that I forgot?”

“I'm making up a new one: he fucked with Leiko's friends.”

Fred grinned. “You're going to have a serious penalty to hit and a general stat penalty next turn if you do.”

“I'll risk it.”

[ _Leiko watched as Aiko dropped to her knees, her bag of potions fell down to the ground. The numerous vials and bottles rolled out of the opened sack and went uncollected as the elf clasped her hands over her new wound,_ _trying to keep herself_ _from bleeding out._

_Then, Leiko turned to the smug bastard, and charged him with her axe, swinging low to get him at his legs._

_Caiaphas calmly jumped into the air, bending his knees backward as Leiko's axe just barely grazes his_ _ankles_ _. “Really?” He says as he lands back_ _on the ground_ _. “You're going to have to do better than that.”_ ]

GoGo grumbled under her breath and crossed her arms as she sulked in her chair.

Honey Lemon patted her on the shoulder. “I appreciate it anyhow, GoGo.”

“And I will make sure to stabilize her condition as soon as I am able.” Baymax continued.

[ _Ginger watched the sorry display and shook his head. “It's cool, guys, I got this!” He said as magical_ _flames_ _started gathering at his fingertips. “You can dodge an axe, but can you dodge a spell?!” He_ _said before_ _as_ _a massive jet of flames_ _poured_ _out of his hand_ _s!_

_Caiaphas dodged just a second before he was engulfed. Leiko flinched and crawled back as tongues of flame singed her hair and her armour, before the wizard's spell incinerated and blackened the face of some unfortunate resident's home._

_Ginger looked on in surprise while Leiko glared at him._

“ _Turns out he_ can _,”_ _she_ _spat._ ]

Wasabi calmly recollected the cursed die. “I'll get him next turn. Bad rolls happen.”

GoGo slowly shook her head.

“My turn!” Hiro said as he grabbed his d20. “Rolling to attack him, obviously! And it's cool, guys, _I_ got this—third time's the charm, you know!”

Hiro's attack ended up doing no damage to Caiaphas, and so started the hell that was to be heroes versus the dragonborn.


	8. Part 20: The Fickle Hand of Fate

[ _The next_ _few moments of the battle_ _dragged on forever, though Aiko realized that slowly bleeding to death might do that to anyone._

“ _Maintain pressure on the wound and remain calm, administering treatment now.” Maxmillion said as he laid his hands on her, and prayed._

_The wound closed and her internals were healed by the grace of Bahlalala, the only evidence that she had ever been stabbed the massive blood stain now on her coat. And while it was a great relief for Aiko to be back on her feet and fighting, it didn't last long as Caiaphas still lived to taunt and terrorize them._

_Much to Leiko's chagrin, he was not bluffing when he said the power of a dragonborn was formidable indeed. Try as they might, they simply couldn't get a solid hit on him; he would dodge their attacks, his armour would shrug off the blow, and even the wrath of Greek fire only left him partly burned, sooty, and smelling of smoke, his dragon lineage letting him almost literally shrug off the explosion and the almost minute long blaze._

_Even Bahlalala seemed to have been affected, Maxmillion unable to channel her power many more times than any of the party would have wanted._

“ _Is this really the heroes spoken of in the prophecy? Or are you just a random group of mercenaries all fooling yourselves?” Caiaphas roared as he continued his assault._

_Leiko tried to snap back at him, but he was on him in an instant, forcing her to focus on blocking and dodging. She took no damage, his saber clashing on the solid hilt of her axe or on her shield if he hadn't missed entirely, but she couldn't make any counters, either, leaving Caiaphas free to pull back without a scratch._

“ _How do you expect to be able to stop my father even when you can't even defeat me?!” He taunted, before he threw his head back and roaredwith laughter._

“ _Oh, JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!” Taka yelled as he charged him once more, raising his axe high up into the air and sending it crashing down on Caiaphas._

_The blade struck him, but the enchanted steel of his armour kept it from cutting into his flesh and doing any serious damage. And though the impact of the blow still rattled his bones, it wasn't enough to stop him from delivering swift retaliation with his dagger, plunging it into his opponent's ribs._

_Taka jumped back, the blade still embedded deep in him. He then looked at it as if it were just a papercut, before he turned to Caiphas with a scowl. “Good luck getting your fancy bejeweled dagger back, jerk, 'cause I'm not going to make it easy for you!”_

_Caiaphas chuckled_ _. “_ _Keep it; I might not even need my saber to defeat you lot. In fact--”_ ]

“No.” GoGo said.

Fred snapped out of his “Jackass” face as he narrated Caiaphas' lines. “Say what, GoGo?”

“I know what it is you're trying to do: you're making this jackass weaker, giving us a way to kick his ass, just because he's been kicking _our_ asses so far.” GoGo replied. “Well don't! I don't want you cheating on my behalf and taking all the fun out of winning—we're beating this asshole fair and square!”

“This fight may just be unbalanced, though.” Wasabi offered.

“Or maybe the curse of the die has spread,” Hiro said ominously, before he made “spooky” noises and wiggled his fingers in the air. Wasabi was unamused. “Seriously, though, did somebody switch out all the die in the room for loaded ones?”

“Nah, bad luck streaks happen.” Fred explained. “This one time, the _whole_ adventure had to be canceled at the first combat encounter because we all just happened to run into the one pack of hobgoblins that were all super-agile acrobats _and_ incredibly lucky at landing critical hits on us.”

“Then let's keep playing until it ends, then.” GoGo finished.

“As your personal healthcare companion, I will have to disagree.” Baymax said. “All of your levels of cortisol and adrenaline have risen significantly over the course of this 'battle,' and are only likely to keep on rising if the current trend continues. Such a high level of stress over an extended period of time is not good for your long-term health.

“Options for treatment are as follows: one, take a break for a few hours and engage in more consistently relaxing past-times; or two, make the fight against Caiaphas easier, even if only by a small amount.”

GoGo sighed. “Fine. But it's only because I want to see this jackass dead before lunch!”

[ _“I'll give you sorry group a free strike on m_ _e—_ _but only one, and from only one_ _of you_ _.” Caiaphas said as he sheathed his blade. “Choose wisely; the next mercy I shall grant you is_ _a stay_ _in the_ _torture rooms_ _for the rest of your miserable lives.”_

 _He grinned_ _as he stood in front of the heroes, completely defenseless and waiting for someone to hit him._ ]

“I'm still disabled from the last attack,” Wasabi said.

“And I am still attempting to treat Ginger.” Baymax continued.

“Let me hit him!” Hiro said. “Come on, my stats, a free shot on him?”

“Or, you could let me headbutt him in the nuts again.” GoGo countered.

“Or that.” Hiro said. “That'd be cool too.”

“… Actually, guys, can I get this hit?” Honey Lemon asked. “I kind of want to pay him back for what he said to Aiko earlier.”

GoGo gave her a thumbs up. “Go for it.” The others agreed with similar gestures.

Honey Lemon smiled and silently thanked them, before she consulted her inventory. Her eyebrows rose as she found a potion she had written down some time ago but had yet to use. “Hey Fred? Did we ever discuss how potent that poison I made from the library slime was?” She asked, a smile spreading on her lips.

Fred smiled back. “No, no we did not.”

[ _Caiaphas chuckled as Aiko stepped up to meet him. “And so they choose the elf! Come to get revenge for earlier,_ _with a slap to my face, I presume_ _?_ _”_

_Aiko reached into one of her bags, pulled out a vial containing some disturbing, greenish liquid webbing all over the glass, and calmly smashed it right into Caiphas' face._

_He screamed as the glass shattered and a cloud of toxic fumes clouded his vision. He clawed at the horrific residue splattered all over his skin, before accidentally took in a deep breath and the_ real _horror began. Though his dragon blood gave him great resistance to a great deal of poisons that would have killed a normal human instantly, it is clear that not even it is enough to spare him from this hell._

_He_ _staggers back,_ _turns green, and_ _quickly_ _becomes violently sick. He coughs and splutters, falling to his knees and clutching his stomach as the poison rages on in his system. Even as he gets back up on his feet, you can see him shake_ _and quiver_ _, the_ _veins of his body_ _taking on a rather_ _disturbing_ _pallor._ ]

“Oh, _god,_ Honey.” GoGo shuddered.

Honey Lemon just kept on smiling evilly.

[“ _W-what is this?!” Caiaphas demands, his voice trembling._

“ _Just a little something courtesy of the castle's library,” Aiko replied cheerfully. “Oh, and by the way?” She narrowed her eyes. “I'm gay.”_

_She swiftly turned around on her heel and returned to the party, a content smile on her face._

_Caiaphas scowls and unsheathes his sword again, though his form is far sloppier than earlier, to say the least. “No matter… I will_ not _bow from… from… from whatever that was! I shall do away with you lot yet...” He paused to suck in a deep gulp of air._

_Leiko chuckled and gave Aiko a thumbs up before she readied her axe. “You do that.”_

_The tide quickly turns in favour for the heroes. Though Caiaphas quickly fought through the worst of the effects of the poison, it had taken its toll on his body, just enough to give the party the advantage they needed._

_Soon, he drops to his knees once more, his saber clattering noisily on the ground beside him. He looks up, found himself eye-to-eye with Leiko, and scowled. “I suppose you're going to kill me now?” He spat._

“ _Nah,” she replies. “But that's only because I'm sure there's plenty of people in Frederickside that want to do_ far _worse things to you.”_

_Caiaphas sucked in a deep breath. “You won't win, you know that? So long as my father lives, all of you and this sorry excuse of a 'kingdom' will fall; not even all of your strength combined can match up to even a sliver of his power.”_

_As if on cue, a blinding flash streaked throughout the sky, blinding them all. Then, an earth-boom rocked the city and brought them all off-balance. The heroes looked up and watched as Lord Kaiju, smoking, burning, and bleeding fell out of the sky, falling like a comet straight into courtyard of the castle._

_Caiaphas laughed as the heroes watched in horror. “And it would seem father is the victor.”_

“ _Though I could not get an accurate diagnosis for the distance, I am predicting that Lord Kaiju has been severely injured in his fight and will not last much longer without prompt medical assistance.”_

“ _No shit.” Leiko growled. “Come on!” She yelled as she ran in the direction of the castle, the others following after her._

_Caiaphas watched them run, before he turned his eyes back up to the sky, watching his father descend and follow after Lord Kaiju._

_He_ _smiled, before he happily passed out in the town square, safe in the knowledge that he may have lost_ _his fight_ _, but the_ _battle_ _was not over yet.]_


	9. Part 21: The Fallen Lord

[ _One section of the courtyard's wall had been_ _completely obliterated,_ _before Lord Kaiju_ _le_ _ft_ _a trail of crumbled and shattered stone, a deep gouge streaking all across what_ used _to be a_ _sizable_ _section of the royal gardens, until he finally came to a rest at the fountain_ _in the center_ _, now bent and askew_ _statue_ _of Regent's father._

_As if retaliating for the vandalism of his likeness, the spigot in the statue's open maw poured out directly onto Lord Kaiju's face._

_He barely registered the insult for all his injuries. His golden scales had become dimmed if they weren't scorched black with thick plumes of smoke rising up into the air, blood poured out of numerous wounds, and a large section of his left wing had been completely incinerated. He could barely raise his head as the heroes climbed over the wreckage of the wall and to him, but still, he forced himself to smile._

“ _Ah, there you are,” he said, his voice weak and pained. “I'm afraid Regent was just too much for me alone; on the bright side, I think I've weakened him enough to give you all a chance of finishing the job.”_

_Leiko frowned. “Shut up; save your strength.”_

“ _My scans confirm my fears: your injuries are_ very _severe, Lord Kaiju,” Maxmillion said gravely. “It would be best if you do not exert yourself any more while I treat you.”_

_Lord Kaiju chuckled. “I've done just fine nursing my own wounds for all these decades, portly one. Besides, you might need those spells of yours for your friends very soon—look.” He gently nudged his snout upwards._

_The heroes turned around to see Regent descending from the sky. Though the sorcerer was unquestionably worse for the wear from the duel—his robes were blackened, singed, and torn in places, and there were numerous ugly gashes all over his arms—the electricity and lightning crackling and gathering all around him was strong as ever._

_The heroes readied their weapons as they formed a wall between Regent and Lord Kaiju. The ball of lightning around surrounding him disappeared as he stepped off to the ground, but still they could feel the sheer power radiating from his body, the air flooding with the almost overwhelming smell of ozone._

“ _You...” Regent growled. “You five have been an even bigger annoyance than I had originally expected, and you've certainly pulled off some half-decent surprises on me, but this_ farce _of a prophecy ends here.”_

_Everyone started to feel the hairs on their heads and skin begin to stand on end as the courtyard filled with crackling static and sparking electricity. High up above in the skies, the storm clouds above the city began to swirl and gather into a giant tornado, its tail descending from the sky and down to Regent. The sorcerer raised his arms and spread his wings wide as his clawed hands began to glow blinding white._

“ _If any of you have any surprise up your sleeves, now would be the time to use them; it'd be_ humiliating _to die after we've gotten this far.” Lord Kaiju_ _said_ _._ ]

“Like, say, a magic book in a certain wizard's inventory…?” Fred raised his eyebrows several times at Wasabi's direction.

He sighed. “Real subtle, Fred. Alright, I'll give, but only because I'm close to my spell limits after that fight with Caiaphas!”

[ _Ginger pulled out the magic book he had taken from the castle's library. The markings on the cover begin to glow with power as the tome opens by itself_ _to_ _a specific page, the_ _ink for the words of a spell lit-up brightly_ _._

_He stared at it, unsure of what to make of it._

“ _Well?!” Leiko snapped. “READ, DAMN IT, READ!”_

 _Ginger begins to chant the spell._ _As the storm clouds above swirl back into Regent's body, ancient, terrible magic begins to seep and radiate from the book._ ]

“I stop casting the spell!” Wasabi cried.

[ _Ginger tries to stop, but he has lost control of his mouth: no matter what he does, he says the next words for the spell, until the book rises out of his hands,_ _and_ _turn_ _s_ _around to face Regent. The sorcerer distracts himself from gathering his power once more, notices the book, and as Lord Kaiju might say, the look on his face is 'priceless.'_

_ For the first time, the heroes hear Regent cry out in genuine, unbridled fear. The tornado above  _ _ surges into him as the  _ _ book reaches forward with magical tendrils, wrapping all around his body and neck, pulsating with energy as it drains his magic almost as quickly as he is regaining it. _

_The heroes watch as the sorcerer struggles to no avail, screaming all the while. Finally, the tendrils shoot back into the book and it snaps itself shut, glowing with a mix of its own power and the magic it had stolen from Regent. It falls to the floor, wriggling and bouncing about, but the cover holds… for now._

_Ginger quickly took several steps back away from it. “Okay… that is the first_ and  _last time I am ever reading the possibly cursed tomes of power.”_

_Regent lets out a pained groan as he forces himself to stand up on unsteady legs. His draconic features start to recede and morph back into his human appearance, until he resembles no more than a battered old man in elegant if badly burned and damaged robes. High up above, the dark and cloudy skies begin to clear up, the late morning sun beaming down all over the city of Heath Cliff._

“ _Very clever...”_ _He grumbled._ _“I've no clue how you knew to use a spell that powerful, nor where you got such an artifact, but rest assured, it won't last_ _for long_ _—my power cannot be contained so easily”_ _._ ]

“Roll for initiative!” Fred called out. “Right now, Regent has no magic or spells whatsoever, but will steadily regain them and get more and more powerful every couple of turns, so make your attacks count!”

[ _“And_ _neither will you_ _!” Taka roared as he charged him with his axe!_

_Regent deftly steps aside from the rampaging orc, swift hands pulling out his son's dagger from his side. “Fool!” He cries as Taka runs past. “Did you_ really  _think I would be just a helpless old man without my magic?”_

_Taka slows to a stop and looks back, more annoyed than anything else. “Hey! I was saving that for a souvenir!”_

_Regent shook his head. “Simple minded brute, I shall do the world a massive favour by ridding it of you and your friends.” He says as he turns around to the others._

_Leiko rolled her eyes as Aiko handed her some bottles of Greek fire._

_Even outnumbered five to one and without his magic, Regent proved a formidable opponent, dodging attacks and spells, before delivering swift, brutal counters, sometimes even directing the heroes blows back to them or to the others. However, there was no questioning that their assault was steadily wearing away at him._

_Heath Cliff's gardens was steadily annihilated as the battle raged on. Craters and gouges formed in the ground from where Taka's swings missed or sent Regent crashing down with his axe caught between his hands. The well-manicured flower beds that were the pride of the kingdom got trampled under foot as Leiko charged him, hiding in the cover of the foliage until she burst out, slashing and chopping at the sorcerer's knees if she wasn't bashing at his ankles and bringing him down to her height before she delivered swift blows with her shield or her head. Clouds of exploded dirt and wrecked foliage filled the air as Regent fled with his head down, doing his best to dodge the almost constant rain of magic and explosive potions trailing after him._

_It would seem that the battle would soon be over for Regent, the heroes trapping him in a corner and closing in to deliver the finishing blows…_

… _Suddenly, the magic book from earlier started to rattle and shake; its cover flipped open for a moment before it snapped shut once more, but not fast enough keep a surge of magic from escaping its prison and go screaming across the sky before it dove back into Regent._

_The smell of ozone filled the air once more as the sorcerer's hands started to crackle with power and electricity once more; he crossed his arms through the air, and a shockwave erupted all around him with a thunderous boom! The heroes staggered backwards or were knocked flat on their rears as the walls behind Regent shook and crumbled._

_The sorcerer takes in a deep, slow breath, before he looks up to glare at the heroes. “That's better...” he mumbles. “Not yet my full power, but certainly better.” He chuckles as he moves his hands through the air, static and electricity gathering in his hands. “At the very least, I am certain this will be_ more  _than enough to kill one of you.”_

_A bright white flash blinds the heroes, just before a lighting bolt streaks through the air and hits Leiko right in her chest._ ]


	10. Part 22: A Brief Respite

[ _The sheer force of the blast sends Leiko flying back_ _and_ _sliding on the ground for several feet until she finally comes to a stop,_ _unmoving_ _._

“ _Leiko!” Aiko cried before she rushed to her, Maxmillion following suit. She reaches out to pick her up, before a painful jolt jumping from Leiko's chainmail stop her. Tears well in her eyes as Maxmillion hovers over her to assess the damage..._

… _Then Leiko raises her head and looks up at her chest, and sees a giant smoking section of armour that wasn't there before. She turns her head to the shocked elf beside her, and smiles. “Hey Aiko.” She says calmly._

“WHAT?!” _Regent roared. “IMPOSSIBLE! Nothing should have been able to spare you from that!”_

_Aiko laughed. “Well, there is one thing...” She said as she helped pull Leiko back up._

“ _100% Dragon Hide Chainmail.” Leiko grinned evilly. “You should recognize the colour from somewhere.”_

_Realization dawns on Regent, his face falling in horror, before anguish, and finally, seething anger. “And here I thought they had erected that statue to honour my father...” he growls. “I will take his defiled remains from your blackened corpse.”_

“ _Pardon me, Regent,” Maxmillion said. “I have noticed that you have threatened or promised to kill my patients several times over, but have yet to succeed in doing so. I am beginning to think that you do not know what the word actually means.”_

_Regent scowled. “Oh, shut up and fight me already.”_

“ _That's my line, jackass.” Leiko snapped as she readied her weapons again._ ]

“Round two!” Fred cried. “This is where it gets interesting: you guys have done some serious damage to Regent so far, but he's got his powers back, and he's only getting stronger! Can you guys beat him before he blows you and the rest of Heath Cliff away?”

“As if you even have to ask! Bring it on!” GoGo cried.

“Yeah! I'm just _dying_ to know how this all ends!” Honey Lemon added as she took several photos of the map, the figurines, and the dice spread all about the table. “My followers have been blowing up my inbox with retweets begging for it, too!”

“And I still haven't gotten the chance to chop this dude's wing off again—we should really fix that.” Hiro continued.

“Actually, I believe it would be better if we all took a short break.” Baymax said.

“What?!” “My followers are not going to be happy about this.” “Aww, come on, Baymax!”

“It is not healthy to partake in an activity for extended periods of time without breaks to rehydrate and rest, especially if it is one that elevates your levels of adrenaline, dopamine, and endorphins at such a significant and frequent rate.” Baymax continued, unfazed. “Besides, more enjoyment can be gained from a pleasurable activity by taking a short break and returning to it, which is ultimately what this therapy is for, yes?”

“It's also getting close to noon,” Wasabi said as he checked his phone.

Honey Lemon's excitement dropped dramatically. “Wow. On second thought, it might be good to take a few minutes off...”

“Mandatory cleric-prescribed break, everyone!” Fred said as he stood up from his chair. “We'll be back in fifteen minutes.” He said before he left in the direction of the nearest bathroom.

Hiro shrugged. “Might as well raid Fred's fridge again!” He said as he hopped off.

“Oooh, I know just the snack to make, too!” Honey Lemon said as she followed after him. “Something delicious, healthy, _and_ enough to tide us over till the end of the game.”

Wasabi sighed and joined them. “Might as well,” he said before mumbling something about his schedule getting messed up.

GoGo got up out of her chair, and began to stretch for lack of anything better to do.

“This form of therapy has gone on extremely well, I would say,” Baymax said.

“If by 'therapy' you mean running around pretending to be basically us in a fantasy world, going on adventures, and slaying monsters for 'great treasures,' then yeah, it's not half-bad.” GoGo replied. “At least it's not the total geekmeggadon-flavoured borefest I was afraid it would be.”

Baymax nodded. “The tension from two nights ago seems to be well on its way to being resolved satisfactorily, along with interpersonal relationships improving with all of you. I am also pleased to see that you have finally found a suitable outlet to express your feelings for Honey Lemon.”

GoGo stopped in the middle of reaching for her toes. “… What…?”

“I have long detected consistently increased amounts of e _pinephrine,_ _d_ _opamine and_ _s_ _erotonin_ in both you and Honey Lemon whenever you are in close proximity, the effect even more significant when you are interacting, especially without the presence of the others. I have kept myself from jumping to conclusions without additional data, but it would appear that without a dobut, you and Honey Lemon have a 'thing for each other,' as you might say.”

GoGo paused. Her reflexive instinct to snap at Baymax and deny what he said failed her, leaving an awkward silence between them.

“If you require a 'DM' for more private and specialized forms of this therapy, I will be happy to volunteer.” Baymax said.

GoGo stared at him, her mouth slowly dropping open. “… Please don't.”

She silently added that none of that conversation was to ever be relayed to anyone else, Hiro especially, and went back to her stretching.

Eventually the rest of the group returned to the table, Fred taking his seat back behind the DM curtain, while Wasabi was coming with a drink, Hiro was eating a sandwich in his hand, and Honey Lemon was coming back with a tray of both set for two.

“Hey GoGo!” She said as she set a plate and a glass down in front of GoGo. “I thought you might like a snack, too, so I made some extra for you!”

GoGo smiled. “Thanks, Honey, but you really didn't need to.”

“Oh, but I wanted to!” Honey Lemon countered as she sat back down in her chair.

Hiro spluttered on his food, spraying half-eaten chunks and crumbs on the table. “Sorry.” He said with his mouth still full.

“Aw, gross, man!” Wasabi said as he quickly pulled out an antibacterial wipe from his pocket and started cleaning up the mess. “Chew your food properly, will you?”

“It vastly reduces the chances of choking, along with increasing enjoyment from your meal.” Baymax added.

GoGo glared at him before she automatically took a bite out of her sandwich. The anger disappeared  quickly; it was hard to be annoyed while eating good food.

“Everybody ready to get back into the fight?” Fred asked.

Hiro gave him a thumbs up,  Honey Lemon finished taking a  picture of food , Wasabi put his pack of antibacterial wipes away, and GoGo nodded. 

“The ideal time has passed to maximize the enjoyment from this therapy, let us resume.” Baymax hummed.

[ _The sky above the courtyard begins to darken as a storm cloud hovers it and it alone; the rain that pours down is a light shower and the lightning is just crackling static._

_Lord Kaiju smiles as the sunlight pours down from above and pierces the clouds, reflecting beautifully off the puddles of water flooding the destruction all around them. And though it might just be a hallucination or a side-effect of having that infernal fountain pouring on his head for all this time, the group of adventurers before glow with brilliant aura he hasn't seen for far, far too long._

_Whether or not these are the heroes he's been waiting to come back for so long remains to be seen, but he's got a very good feeling they_ _were_ _._ ]


	11. Part 23: The Eye of the Storm

[ _“_ _AAAGGGHHH!” Regent screamed as he ran_ _all over the courtyard, completely ablaze with Greek fire_ _. Try as he might, the flames simply would not be extinguished, by his desperate flailing, the rain from his personal storm cloud, or the diving into the muddy pools in the gardens._

_If anything, all he did was spread the fire around, the mixture happily burning on water, mud, and whatever surface it found itself on._

_Leiko stared at the hand she had used to throw the bottle earlier, then at Regent as he wallows in the mud, still on fire. “Aiko, all your potions are horrifying. I love it.”_

_Aiko blushed and laughed. “_ _Thanks_ _!_ _I make it a point to_ _make them_ _as potent as I can!”_ ]

GoGo calmly ignored the pointed look Hiro was giving her and Honey.

[ _Regent let out a cry of relief as the flames finally burned away, leaving him burnt almost completely black_ _or_ _muddy if not,_ _and smelling_ terrible _, to boot. He glares at Leiko and Aiko, raising his hands and gathering his magic once more…_

… _completely unaware of the massive orc jumping at him from behind until it was_ far _too late._

“ _MUD WRESTLING!” Taka cried as he grabbed the back of Regent's head and pushed it straight back into the muddy ground. The orc laughs as the sorcerer struggles and flails, barely feeling the powerful shocks of electricity being pumped into him._

“ _I am detecting an incredibly large amount of voltage in that area, Taka!” Maxmillion said as he stood beside Lord Kaiju. “I would highly advise leaving it immediately or donning protective equipment against electrocution if you wish to stay.”_

“ _Relax, Max!” Taka replied as he repeatedly dunked Regent's head in and out of the mud. “I can take it!”_

_Max just quietly turns back to the dragon while the others take advantage of Regent's predicament. “Remain calm, Lord Kaiju,” he says as he holds out his hands, warm light glowing in them. “This treatment will be brief, painless, and will do much to stabilize your condition.”_

“ _You do realize even if you use your best spells on me, it will not bring me back to anything close to fighting condition, yes?” Lord Kaiju rumbles._

“ _Your potential effectiveness in combat is irrelevant; you are my patient, and I am your healthcare provider, therefore it is my duty to treat you to the best of my ability.” Maxmillion says, before he closes his eyes in prayer._

“ _I believe you are making a mistake,” Lord Kaiju says as warmth began to wash over him, sealing his wounds and slowly bringing back his scales' luster. “But then again, I have also been wrong about you five many times over...” He adds with a pleased rumble._

_As the heroes humiliate and concentrate their attacks on the helpless Regent, the magical book begins to jump and flip around, wrestling to keep something contained within it. The tome burst open like a roaring beast's maw, and more of Regent's power leaks out of it and surges into the sky._

_Ginger turns his attention from the fizzled magic sprinkling down from his fingers to the energy makes a bee line back to its master. “Watch out! He's getting more of his magic back!” He cried as he fled._

_Leiko and Aiko follow suit, but Taka stays where he is, sitting on Regent's back while he holds his face down with one hand. “Aw, come on, guys!” He complains. “How much more powerful can he get this time?”_

_As if on cue, Regent glows for a moment, before an explosion of electricity rocks the courtyard, and Taka finds himself thrown into a nearby wall._

_Massive dragon wings sprout out from the mud pit and start to beat, Regent slowly rising into the sky as his features morph back into jaws and ferocious talons. Fire burns in his eyes as the sky darkens completely, the storm clouds above now so thick that the sun can no longer penetrate. The air reeks of ozone as lighting crackles and strikes all over the remains of the courtyard, with more powerful bolts gathering inside the clouds._

“ _Okay…” Taka grunted as he pulled himself out from an orc-shaped indentation on the wall._ “Pretty _powerful...”_

_This time, Regent skips all of the threats and declarations and raises his arms, the very ground beneath their feet starting to rumble and shake as the air flooded with static._

_Lord Kaiju slowly pushes himself up on his haunches, shaking off the water from his head before he looks up and sees Regent's ball of lightning and magic begin to reform around him. “If any of you have any_ other _tricks up your sleeves, I think now might be the time to pull them all out,” he hummed._ ]

“Free actions this turn—no rolls necessary except for criticals.” Fred said with a grin.

The rest of the group all turned to each other, silently communicating a plan amongst themselves.

[ _“Kaiju!” Ginger cried as he and the others scrambled. “Blast a smokescreen on Regent!”_

“ _That's_ Lord _Kaiju to you,” the dragon huffed, before he took a deep breath, white hot flames building up in his maw before he shut it and blew it out as twin jets of black, blinding smoke._

_Regent screamed as the embers and smog got into his eyes, blinding him. “Do you think this will stop me?!” He yelled as he willed the haze away, the energy in his hands still building._

_Explosives and magic rocked all around him, the sorcerer blindly shot lightning bolts from the directions they came from, missing Aiko and Ginger by several feet to nary a few inches._

“ _No,” Leiko calmly said as she appeared right in front of him._

_Regent reflexively blasted her with all of the energy he had left, a massive stream of lightning that poured several hundred thousand volts of electricity right into Leiko. Her chainmail rattled and shook from the blast, sparks raining down from it and shooting all around her, before it exploded in a brilliant shower of white, blue scale shards scattering everywhere like shrapnel._

“ _BUT THIS WILL!” Taka roared as he flew up from behind him, every vein in his body pulsing as his blood ran hot with mutagen._

_With two swift slices, the orc lopped both of Regent's wings clean off. They say that the whole kingdom heard the resulting roar of pain._

_The sorcerer fell to his knees, clutching the fresh, bleeding stumps on his back. He glared at the heroes, fire still burning in his eyes, however little. He opened his maw, one last burst of lightning gathering between his fangs..._

Crack.

_The lightning discharged into harmless static as Regent finally crumpled to the ground, unconscious, King Stanley's sword hilt hovering where his head was a moment ago._

“ _Could you all do me a favour and not mutilate Regent any more than you already have?” He asked. “I kind of need him mostly intact.”_

“ _NO!” Taka roared. “CRUSH! KILL! DESTROY PUNY DRAGON-MAN!” He races off, ready to lop Regent's head off his shoulders before he is held back by Maxmillion._

_King Stanley looked in a mix of worry and dismay. “And here I thought the elf was bad...”_

_Maxmillion smiled, calmly pulling his charge back with a surprising amount of strength. “Do not worry; the effects of the mutagen will wear off soon, upon which Taka's levels will return to normal.”_

“ _RAAGGH!” Taka roared. “LET GO! NEED CHOP DRAGON-MAN'S HEAD OFF!”_

_King Stanley nodded before looking out to the rest of the destroyed courtyard._

_Aiko knelt beside a badly burnt and still smoking Leiko, carefully administering a health potion to her with one hand while she tried to get the dwarf's hair to stop standing straight up with the other; nearby, Wasabi carefully pokes at the magic book, now completely, disturbingly inert and devoid of any glow._

“ _And what about the rest of your group?" He asks._

“ _They will be fine,” Lord Kaiju hummed as he padded over. “These heroes can take care of themselves. Your city, however, appears to need its king.”_

_King Stanley looked out to the destruction all around him, and further away still, all the flooded streets, wrecked houses, and dead bodies littering the roads. “So it would seem.”_

_He turned back to the heroes._ _“Please,_ _feel free to retire to your rooms—and by that I mean, you all do that,_ now, _before you cause any more trouble..._ _”_ ]


	12. Part 24: The End of an Era

[ _It was another bright new dawn over the city of Heath Cliff, though the mood was decidedly somber that morning. What was left of yesterday and most of the night before had been spent cleaning up the city and recovering from the_ _battle_ _, hauling away burned debris, waterlogged and ruined goods, and far too many bodies for anyone's liking._

_The clerics were all gathered at a mass wake for those slain in the battle, many of the dead wrapped up in white sheets while incense was burned to mask the terrible natures of their fates. Elsewhere in town, every wizard was working closely with all the kingdom's contractors to repair the buildings or tear them down to make way for new ones._

_Once the afternoon rolled around, however, most every citizen of Heath Cliff and even some from the neighbouring villages gathered up in the town square, where a stage had been hastily erected. King Stanley stood on a raised platform in the center, Regent and son chained and kneeling to one side of him, the five heroes of the kingdom standing on the other, with Lord Kaiju's head hovering beside him while his body rested off the platform and on the ground below._

_King Stanley looked out to the assembled crowds, nodded, and began his speech. “As you all know, our kingdom has been haunted far too long by a prophecy:_

_‘_ _ F _ _ ueled with rage at the mistreatment of his progeny, the mighty dragon will bring storms upon the land, and only those who had wronged him will have the strength to defend it.’ _

_“_ __For many years, we have cowered, tread lightly, and prostrated ourselves at every single dragon or dragonborn that entered our kingdom, believing we could prevent the prophecy from coming true. Many of you remember how much money, time, and effort was poured into our_ _ __attempts, especially the_ _ __last line of defense against it: lavish rooms_ _ __for the people that would earn the dragon's ire_ _ __, one staffed day and night with servants and stocked with all the luxuries most anyone could ever ask for, in the hopes that they would not leave and_ _ __not anger them in the first place_ _ __._ _

_“ _Many more of you complained at the expense,__ __pointed out the consequences of_ _ __what_ _ __other projects_ _ __had suffered to fuel this, and questioned the effectiveness of such a plan_ _ __more than once_ _ __. Personally, I and my most trusted advisers thought it would work, and that we had outsmarted fate itself._ _

_“ _But as it turns out, you just can't outwit a prophecy.__

_“ _These are the people that had__ __angered the_ _ __dragon and brought its ire down on us,_ _ __as foretold_ _ __. And they_ _ _ also  _ __the heroes who have saved us all, both from the wrath of Regent, his son, and his_ _ __cronies_ _ __, and_ _ __more importantly,_ _ __that of the tyranny and abuse of dragons everywhere._ _

“ _Today is the dawn of a new era in the history of the kingdom of Frederickside, a time when we are now finally free to choose our own destiny, when we will no longer have to bow down to the whim of every single dragon for fear of our destruction._

“ _And though it begins in a time of great turmoil and ruin, I have no doubt that we will emerge from it greater than ever.”_

_The audience roared, alternately cheering for the heroes for saving their lives and finally freeing them from the shackles of the prophecy, other still berating them for having it come true in the first place and how they could have defended the kingdom better. A few even went so far as to throw things at them, but they either bounced harmlessly off of their bodies or were easily blocked and deflected._

_King Stanley motioned for quiet and eventually the crowd settled down.“But for now, we have two very important matters to attend to: one, the first of many long-overdue deliveries of justice to the Regent family and all their crimes and abuses; and two, the formal rewarding of our heroes._

“ _Now, I'm sure many of you have many ideas about what we should do with them both, immediate execution being one of the least terrible, but we need the two of them alive and well if we're ever going to have a hope in undoing the damage and the corruption they've sown in our kingdom over the years.”_

_King Stanley turned to the adventurers. “So, I ask our heroes today to please, met out a punishment you see fit to these two that won't render them dead, lobotomized, or mute.”_

_Taka sighed. “Not fair, you took all the fun options out.”_

“ _My faith prevents me from willfully causing excessive harm to another being,” Maxmillion said calmly._

_Ginger raised his hands. “Don't look at me! After that book fiasco, this is the closest I'm willing to be to those two!”_

_Aiko sucked in a breath. “Well… I've got ideas, but since you gave all those conditions...”_

“ _I've got one, if you can get me a hammer with a long handle.” Leiko calmly said._

_The tool was procured, and Leiko soon stood before Regent and his son, both of them glaring daggers at her as she practiced her swing._

“ _What are you going to do with that?” Caiaphas spat. “Give us both a good thwacking on our heads?”_

_Leiko didn't respond. Instead, she brought the hammer high up into the air, before she swung low with all her might._

_Very, very,_ very  _low._

_Throughout the town square, every single male winced, while further away, many men wondered about the strange, successive noises that echoed throughout the land and why it was giving them such severe phantom pains in their loins._

_Regent and Caiaphas crumpled to the ground as Leiko handed the hammer off to a waiting attendant. “There,” she said as she returned to the side of her companions. “Now we don't have to worry about them making any more shitty mutant spawn.”_

_Regent groaned. “Ugh, I knew I should have listened to your mother more when she said you were getting too big of a head...”_

_Caiaphas didn't react, too busy suffering._

_King Stanley slowly recovered from his own emphatic pains, and carefully made his way to the heroes. “A very… creative_ _punishment… anyway, as thanks for saving our kingdom and freeing us from fear of that damned prophecy, I grant you two gifts:_

“ _One, you may keep the boons I have granted you along with any spoils you may have gotten from your battle with Regent, his son, and his forces yesterday._

“ _And two, I will grant you all the best, most luxurious method of transportation we can provide to anywhere we can take you, along with a generous allowance of gold and supplies for you all to begin your permanent exile from Frederickside.”_

“ _Wait what?” Ginger spluttered. “Exile?”_

“ _Didn't we save your kingdom?” Leiko asked, annoyed._

_King Stanley glared at them. “Yes, but remember that you're all_ also  _responsible for the millions in damaged buildings, ruined goods, and lost lives in this city; completely bankrupted me with getting those boons you now have; and forced me to cancel and refund the Alchemist's Expo—and trust me, refunds for their admission tickets are the_ least _of my problems._

“ _I've got this bad feeling that if I keep any of you around this city or any other part of my territory, you're only going to cause more trouble, and frankly, I think it'd be the best for everyone if all five of you go far, far,_ far _away from here, and never come back for as long as this kingdom exists.”_

_Before any of the heroes could respond, Lord Kaiju lowered his massive head beside King Stanley. “I'd advise you not to exile them just yet, King Stanley; I didn't grant these heroes my aid out of the goodness of my heart. We had a deal, and that was the creation of a suitable tribute to myself, them, and the story of how we banded together to save this kingdom of yours._

“ _They have sworn their aid to the creation of a fitting medium for this work, and unless your spies have been following them since before they entered the walls of your city, they are the only ones know the whole story.”_

_Lord Kaiju brought his head closer to King Stanley. “And believe me, if there are_ any  _holes in the story that spreads throughout this land, there_ will  _be consequences.”_

_To King Stanley's credit, he remained unfazed and standing in the face of the dragon. “Very well then; you're all welcome to stay here until the deal with the dragon is done._

“ _But as soon as it is,_ _you're all out of here_ _!”_ ]


	13. Part 25: The Beginning of a New Adventure

[ _“Lord Kaiju and the Kingdom of Death” becomes a hit even before it is completed; tales quickly sweep the land about the new form of art being created_ _in_ _Heath Cliff, only helped by_ _t_ _he new technology, inks, and techniques_ _being developed specifically for it, and_ _that the heroes of the story were also the ones helping_ _make_ _it._

_The very first edition is an_ extremely  _large print, the “comic book” as it was dubbed about the size of a full grown human male and its cover and contents strong enough to resist incredibly harsh conditions, and even being set on fire—“though you might not want to test that out, if you want the colours to remain as vibrant as they are right now.” Aiko warned._

_Lord Kaiju laughed as he flipped through the pages with one massive claw, admiring the super-sized and incredibly detailed illustrations therein. “I will not and never will; rest assured, this shall be one of my most prized treasures and I will treat it with all the care and caution it rightfully deserves.”_

“ _Then does this mean your deal is done?” King Stanley asked._

“ _Yes, I would say it is.” Lord Kaiju replied._

“ _Great!” King Stanley clapped his hands once. “Shall I get the carriages loaded and ready to make your trip to the next kingdom over?”_

“ _Do it,” Taka said. “Too much talking and describing, and not enough killing things lately.”_

“ _I'd be really happy to get away from here, yeah.” Ginger added. “It's_ really _hard to concentrate or do anything when you've got someone standing outside yelling at you to get out of town while they throw rocks at your window._

“ _And it's not like I can delay our trip till the next Alchemist's Expo...” Aiko said sadly. Her mood improved as Leiko reached up and patted her on the arm._

“ _We have all spent more than enough time resting and recovering from our adventure and are now more than ready to travel, with thanks to your highness' accommodations and the balanced meals you have provided us.” Maxmillion finished happily._

_King Stanley nodded. “Fantastic. Don't worry about packing any of your bags, I'll have the servants get all your things ready and loaded up—all you really have to do is show up at the courtyard and you can all be on your way.” He said before he walked away._

“ _We'll send you a postcard as soon as we can,” Leiko said with a smile._

“ _You_ really _don't need to.” King Stanley replied._

_Lord Kaiju closed his comic book and let out a low rumble. “I guess this is where our paths diverge, heroes; though our time has been brief, words can't even begin to describe how much of an effect you've had on me.”_

“ _If you're going to ask for a group hug, I'm not joining in.” Leiko said._

_The dragon ignored her. “I am certain that your actions had been driven mostly by a desire to save your own hides, but unlike what most people would have done—run far, far away from here, or hide and leave it to someone more heroic to deal with—you faced it head on, even if you risked certain, painful death.”_

“ _It helped that the prophecy said we'd win,” Aiko said with a smile._

“ _Very true. I will not blather on any longer: I've been jaded for a good, long time, and it is only now that I realize that I was very wrong for_ ever _believing that the age of heroes was well and truly over—I should have listened to my gut and given it a few more decades to get better, than losing hope when I did._

“ _You five… you've saved countless lives with your deeds, you've restored my faith, and in honour of you all, I will become continue being the guardian of the kingdom of Frederickside—this time as one who does it simply because it is the right thing to do._

“ _The Regents were only the worst of the lot this kingdom has had to bow to—and without them, I foresee many more villains coming to fill in the space they have left behind, dragon or otherwise. And though I know not their faces, I do know that the kingdom will need a hero to stand up for them.”_

“ _Aww, thank you, that's so sweet!” Aiko cried. “Ugh, I wish I had some way of capturing this moment...”_

“ _Our memories will have to do. And at the very least, no one is going to forget the adventure we just had, so long as these are in existence.” Lord Kaiju smiled as he tapped the cover of his comic book. “Now, I remember you all had a carriage to board to new adventures…?”_

“ _Right, I'm off!” Taka said as he walked out._

“ _I must attend to my patient, farewell.” Maxmillion said as he joined them._

“ _I need to go check if the servants packed my things right—you never know who might just ignore my instructions and my system...” Ginger grumbled as he left._

“ _I'll meet you guys at the carriage!” Aiko cried after them, before she turned back to Leiko. “Well, shall we?” She smiled._

“ _One last thing.” Leiko said as she walked in front of Lord Kaiju once more. “Hey, Lord Kaiju? You're not that bad after all. Still a jerk in my book, but not as much as you used to be.”_

_Lord Kaiju laughed. “I'll take that as a compliment.”_

_The elf and the dwarf linked arms, and made their way to the courtyard and their next adventure._ ]

“The end.” Fred said proudly.

“Now kiss.” Hiro said.

GoGo punched him on the arm, a strike he narrowly dodged. She tried again, but Honey Lemon stopped her and calmed her down.

“Well guys?” Fred said as he folded up the DM curtain. “How was your very first roleplaying game session ever?”

“Freaking awesome!” Hiro cried. “ _Especially_ because I played the best possible class!”

“Except for a few hiccups, and problems, that was pretty well done, yeah!” Wasabi said. “It's no improv theater, but that's a _good_ thing.”

Honey Lemon laughed as she showed off her phone. “Why don't you check the numbers on my Twitter? I loved it, and my followers loved it too!”

“I would call the results of this therapy 'a complete success.'” Baymax said. “The conflict was resolved, interpersonal relationships among all of you have been improved greatly, and I now have first-hand data of this treatment, and will use it to improve my treatments.”

Fred nodded, and turned to the last member of their group. “Well, GoGo? How was it?” He asked, a grin on his face.

GoGo rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it was fine, I guess.”

“Just 'fine'?” Fred asked as he leaned out of his seat.

GoGo glared at him. “Don't push it.”

Fred leaned back into his seat. “I'll take that as a 'yeah, it was completely, absolutely _awesome,_ and so was the adventure you made just for us, Fred.' So, when are we scheduling the next RP night? I've already got some _great_ ideas for a new campaign, but we could totally try the other games I've got, if you're interested!”

They were all interrupted by their phones and Baymax beeping suddenly with a special ringtone they all reserved for one thing: crime fighting.

“Scratch that, it's hero time!” Fred cried triumphantly as he rocketed out of his seat. “Don't sweat the clean-up, guys, Heathcliff's totally got it!”

GoGo was about to make a snarky response, but he had already dashed out of the room before she could begin.

“Get ready to deliver some real treatments, Baymax, because I am _so_ ready to fight some real villains on a real adventure!” Hiro said as he followed.

“I am already preparing all of the most common treatments for swift deployment.” Baymax hummed as he waddled after him.

Wasabi checked the time on his phone. “Well, it's not as if my schedule for this day hadn't already been _completely_ tossed out the window...” He said as he slipped his phone back into his pocket and made to leave.

Honey Lemon took one last photo of the game board and the pieces set out, before taking a semi-serious selfie of herself looking sad. “Adventure's over, but it's time for a new one!” She said out loud as she typed it out. “Annnddd grinning cat smiley!” She posted it, slid her phone back into her pocket, before she slid out of her seat.

“Ready to go be heroes, GoGo?” Honey Lemon asked.

“Not yet.” GoGo replied as she hopped off her chair. “About that IC thing you whispered earlier...”

Honey Lemon smiled. “Want to have that IC date soon as we get back?”

GoGo looked away. “Nah, I was wondering if you wanted to make it an RL one...”

Honey Lemon blinked, before her smile grew even wider. “I'd love to. Talk specifics after we save the day?”

GoGo looked back at her, surprise on her face before she smiled, too. “Sure.”

Honey Lemon offered her hand.

GoGo blushed and gave her a concerned look.

Honey Lemon chuckled. “Hey, it's not like we haven't made it completely, undeniably obvious already, right?”

GoGo sighed. “Right.” She said as she reluctantly took it.

Hand-in-hand, the two of them ran off to join their friends on an adventure in the real world.


End file.
